Punjab police form 4-member SIT to probe illegal migration

Most of the deportees when contacted by their respective district polices refused to give any written statements against the agents, barring one complaint registered in Amritsar.

Punjab Police on Friday constituted a four-member fact-finding committee/special investigation team (SIT) to investigate illegal human trafficking and migration.

He said that this collaborative effort is aimed at ensuring a comprehensive and effective investigation into illegal migration. (AP)

This comes three days after the US deported 104 illegal immigrants from various states on a military aircraft as part of Donald Trump government’s crackdown.

Most of the deportees when contacted by their respective district polices refused to give any written statements against the agents, barring one complaint registered in Amritsar.

Additional director general of police (NRI affairs) Praveen Sinha will head this committee with ADGP (internal security) Shive Kumar Verma, IGP (provisioning) Dr S Boopathi and DIG (border range) Satinder Singh as its members.

“The SIT will focus on identifying the individuals involved in these illegal activities and ensuring they are held accountable for their actions, besides, identifying the persons involved in the illegal activities,” said Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav.

He said the SIT has been directed to take appropriate action as per law and facts.

“The committee has been empowered to co-opt any other police officer in the inquiry/investigation. They will maintain coordination with the concerned senior superintendents of police/commissioners of police, who have been directed to provide all the required assistance and infrastructural facilities to the committee”, the DGP added.

He said that this collaborative effort is aimed at ensuring a comprehensive and effective investigation into illegal migration.

Deportees reluctant to file complaints

Only one of the 30 deportees from Punjab approached by the state police has submitted his complaint.

On the complainant of Daler Singh, a resident of Salempura village near Rajasansi the Amritsar police have booked a travel agent under Section 318(4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act 2014.

As per reports, DSP-level officials visited the residences of deportees but most of them showed reluctance to file written complaints against the agents, who took lakhs of rupees per head to take them to the US via ‘donkey route’ through Latin America.

SSP (Jalandhar Rural) Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh, said the gazetted officers were sent to the residences of two of the deportees but they refused to register any complaint.

“We have appealed to these families to give names of the agents in writing. However, the families were reluctant to give any kind of details as yet,” Khakh said.

Among 30 Punjab deportees, 14 hailed from Doaba region including six from Kapurthala, four from Jalandhar and two each from SBS Nagar and Hoshiarpur districts.

Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora also confirmed that none of the deportees have come forward to submit any complaint as of now.

“The police can take action against these travel agents according to law only after getting detailed complaints from these people,” Toora added.

SBS Nagar SSP Mehtab Singh said the DSP-level officials visited the families but they were inaccessible.

The four deportees who belong to Patiala district have also not appeared before the police to file a complaint and it was a similar story in other districts as well.

One of the senior police officials, who didn’t wish to be named, said that the deportees have all the information regarding whom they contacted and to whom they paid hefty amounts for travelling to the US.

“Since most of them had gone recently, the chances are high that the agents might return the money on the condition that no complaint is filed against them with the police,” the official added.

Kuljit Singh Hayer, president of the Punj-Aab travel agents association, said that the business has earned a bad reputation due to the presence of a few swindlers.

“It is not a small game as such agents have a vast network of touts in every country. Hearing the tales of deportees, one can gauge that these agents were working while sitting in Dubai, the UK and other Latin American countries,” he said.

“It is not possible for an agent sitting in Jalandhar or Kapurthala to arrange logistics of such big operations,” he added.

One of the travel agents, on condition of anonymity, said: “The agents arrange all the logistics and travel itinerary. In every country, a new agent appears. All the conversations are carried over phones and other networks, and there is no face-to-face interaction with agents. The payments are also made at different stages,” he said.